Skin retouch, 2nd try......

gmonkeh · April 24, 2007

I took the feedback from my earlier post and put it to work on this process. Does her facial skin texture/smoothing look natural?

I would get the Lee Varis: Skin book but I really don't want to pay $40 bucks when I can just experiment and get good feedback from you fine folks.

dogwood · April 24, 2007

gmonkeh wrote:

I would get the Lee Varis: Skin book but I really don't want to pay $40 bucks when I can just experiment and get good feedback from you fine folks.

That book is worth several times the cost when it comes to this topic, in my opinion. Better than the Martin Evening and Scott Kelby techniques when it comes to skin retouching, but again, that's just my opinion.

The skin on your example looks a little spotchy to me. The texture looks natural though.

Lee Massey · April 24, 2007

dogwood wrote:

The skin on your example looks a little spotchy to me. The texture looks natural though.

Striking model and nice lighting though!

Thanks for sharing...

Lee

gmonkeh · April 24, 2007

Dogwood, you got any tips from the book for getting a more even skin tone you might want to share?

She was wearing minimal makeup when i took the shot so maybe thats part of the problem. I haven't really shot her with full makeup on.

But im glad the skin texture finally looks on the natural side. So that'sa victory on my part

I just checked out your gallery Pete, you have some incredible portrait shots! Consider yourself bookmarked lol

dogwood · April 24, 2007

gmonkeh wrote:

Dogwood, you got any tips from the book for getting a more even skin tone you might want to share?

I created an action for one of the methods in the book and I can't remember the steps off the top of my head. Something like create a duplicate layer, run a smart blur (?) on that, layer mask, invert the layer mask, paint over the skin, then a clipping layer at a lower opacity to smooth over areas that didn't blend well, then another clipping layer with the emboss filter... lower the opacity of your original duped layer, plus about five more steps in there that I can't recall off the top of my head!

And... that was just one of the methods in the book. There are loads of other tricks too-- from lighting set-ups to making someone look taller and leaner... to getting correct skin tones... a whole load of stuff like that. To be totally honest, by about halfway through the book, I had the tips I needed-- for now. Once I get a little better, I'm sure I'll be thumbing my way into the second half of the book.

I know someone here on dgrin is also working on a skin retouching tutorial too. Sure beats my previous method of simply duping the original layer and running a gaussian blur on it then using the erasor tool to bring back details in everything but the skin!

Oh yeah, and one other useful trick is to run your unsharp mask on a duped original layer, then layer mask it, and paint over the skin so everything but the skin gets the sharpening tweak. This can make a big difference, especially in close-up shot.

gmonkeh · April 25, 2007

Here's the next sample for skin smooth/retouch. I found a nice way to lessen the blotchiness of the skin in CS3.

Created a blank layer in "lighter color" blending mode, then I sampled a "clean area" with the eyedropper tool and used a soft brush @ 10% opacity to lessen the skin color irregularities.

Then I proceeded to apply my usual skin smoothing process. (I worked on facial area only)

How does it look this time? Better? Worse?

Thank you for the feedback it's greatly appreciated.

Lex

Scott_Quier · April 25, 2007

As noted above, the first photo is greatly improved over your first attempt though still has some small problems with splotchiness.

The second photo is very nicely done!

dogwood · April 25, 2007

Scott_Quier wrote:

The second photo is very nicely done!

Yup, a much better job on that second shot!

EDIT: plus, the pose and expression seem more natural on that second image too.

gmonkeh · April 25, 2007

Well I'm pretty happy with what I have so far until something better comes along.

If anyone's interested here's the process.

(SAMPLE PICTURE) Not mine........

[FONT=Geneva, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] First I'm assuming you've done the necessary blemish removal and all that fine stuff.

1. Always duplicate your original and work on the copy. (for comparing purposes.)

2. Make a copy of your duplicate, this will be the start of our smoothing process.

3. Go to Filter > Other > High Pass...... The radius you use will depend on how large your image is. And this takes a little eyeballing, adjust the radius just enough that you see the grunginess (new word)

on the skin. Remember this value and Click OK.

4. Now go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur..... You will apply a radius using the High Pass value / 3. So if you used 5.7 / 3 = 1.9 (Blur value)

5. Change the layer blend mode to "Linear Light". You'll see the skin turn to the opposite of what you're trying to do but don't panic. Invert the layer by pressing CTRL + I. Now that's more like it now you have smoother looking skin. Change the layer opacity to taste.

6. Now create a hideall mask. Then with a soft white brush @ 100% paint the area of the skin you want smooth.

7. Now to bring back some texture. Select the first copy of the original, go to the channels palette, click on the green channel, select all and copy.

8. Return to the layers palette and paste the copied green channel to a new layer, move it to the top most layer if it isn't already.

9. Go to Filters > Other > High pass filter and use the same radius you used for Blur in step 4. (1.9) Change the layer blend mode to Linear light and adjust Opacity to taste.

10. Now you should have the pore detail and texture back. Create a hideall mask one more time. With a soft white brush set at around 5-10% opacity. Gradually paint over the forehead/cheeks/under the eyes/chin/ or wherever you want the skin texture to show.

added step..... usually I group these 2 layers into one so I can adjust the opacity of the process to taste.

11. With your preferred method of dodging and burning, dodge and burn to bring out highlight and shadow details. I usually do this to the face, exposed skin, eyes and hair.
Subtlety is your best friend when it comes to skin retouching, try not to overdo it.

To recap, the above values that we're used are done to taste depending on how large the image size is. So trust your eyeballs and good luck.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.[/FONT]

Owen · April 25, 2007

Can you link a high res version of one of your shots for me to play with?

gmonkeh · April 25, 2007

Yeah no problem, here's a high res image you can play around with.

http://www.pbase.com/gmonkeh/image/77756984/original.jpg

gmonkeh · April 26, 2007

I just came upon a technique using noise ninja for skin smoothing. I can't believe I didn't think of this before.

Mike02 · April 26, 2007

gmonkeh wrote:

I just came upon a technique using noise ninja for skin smoothing. I can't believe I didn't think of this before.

ZOMG Youre so smart omg youre teh bestest, you must be like einsteineum or somethin. ;P You should post tis on all teh message boards and you'll be a famous in no time. Best photoshopper eveur! I cant believe you didnt think of it sooner! Its like, teh bestest secret evar! ZOmg, no one's ever thought of that before! ZOMG!
Note: link is from 1 year ago today ;P

Also: Jim C (mod), July 2005 :" I'll tell you one more thing I've found noise reduction can work very well for... smoothing skin and skin color (much better than some packages that simply blur it), if you tweak the settings some specifically for this purpose (experiment with the settings until you get the look you want)."

So yeah, youre not the first one to think of this, so dont act like you're a genious for figuring it out okay?

So what; I figured that out a few months ago too, big deal. I dont act all high and mighty when I figure out something many other people have already figured out and posted online; that's just lame ;P

DoctorIt · April 26, 2007

Mike02 wrote:

ZOMG Youre so smart omg youre teh bestest, you must be like einsteineum or somethin. ;P You should post tis on all teh message boards and you'll be a famous in no time. Best photoshopper eveur! I cant believe you didnt think of it sooner! Its like, teh bestest secret evar! ZOmg, no one's ever thought of that before! ZOMG!
Note: link is from 1 year ago today ;P

Also: Jim C (mod), July 2005 :" I'll tell you one more thing I've found noise reduction can work very well for... smoothing skin and skin color (much better than some packages that simply blur it), if you tweak the settings some specifically for this purpose (experiment with the settings until you get the look you want)."

So yeah, youre not the first one to think of this, so dont act like you're a genious for figuring it out okay?

ZOMg I figured it out too, Im teh haxxors!

Strike three, Mike. Have a nice weekend... away from dgrin.

What is the point of a post like this?

urbanaries · April 26, 2007

gmonkeh wrote:

I just came upon a technique using noise ninja for skin smoothing. I can't believe I didn't think of this before.

this version looks really good!!! THANKS FOR SHARING your journey to a solution Lex.

Mike02 wrote:

I dont act all high and mighty

really?

gmonkeh · April 26, 2007

lol priceless.

Maybe he misunderstood, I meant I just found..... online a technique using noise ninja for skin smoothing. It's neat.

Mike02, I would give you a hug but..... you know..... the whole banned thing is just keeping us apart. Cruel world we live in.

Hugs and Kisses XOXOXO

Alex

dogwood · April 26, 2007

Alex:

Noise Ninja $35-$45 vs. Skin $45

Hmmmm... but I guess Noise Ninja can be used for other purposes, eh?

Seriously, once you get a skin method down you like, work on making it into an action with stops for changing values when needed. It will save you tremendous amounts of time. Probably you've already done that, though. Plus, I like to make sure all the skin stuff is done on a layer where I can tweak the opacity just in case it's a little overdone. Maybe you've done that too. Just an idea in case you hadn't. The clipping masks are another good way to make sure you can correct one or many layers at once if it's overdone. I tend to avoid dodging and burning myself since sometimes it can be tricky to undo. Plus, I'm not very good at it!

I've enjoyed seeing your step by step info and posts. There are MANY ways to retouch skin. Looks like you've come up with a method that works well for you and it's cool you're sharing.

gmonkeh · April 26, 2007

I already had noise ninja on hand

I just never thought of using it for this purpose.

jdryan3 · April 26, 2007

gmonkeh wrote:

lol priceless.

Maybe he misunderstood, I meant I just found..... online a technique using noise ninja for skin smoothing. It's neat.

Mike02, I would give you a hug but..... you know..... the whole banned thing is just keeping us apart. Cruel world we live in.

Hugs and Kisses XOXOXO

Alex

Hahaha. If it makes any difference, I read a lot of these different boards and had not seen the noise to smooth method. Makes sense given how Unsharp Mask sharpens.

Owen · April 26, 2007

I have a couple tips for you...

remove as much discoloration and as many blemishes as you can with the heal and clone tool BEFORE you try to mask/blur
blur to the point where the skin tone becomes more uniform, and then reduce the opacity of the layer to where it is realistic
add texture back after blurring, with realistic light direction
try to do as much BEFORE you take the picture as you can, including getting rid of pesky hairs, cover up pimples, etc.
the image you are showing is underexposed, which does pose a slight problem. Bump it up in curves and THEN do your skin adjustments.

On a side note, I'm glad you're trying to perfect your skin technique, because it was getting really horrendous, and I was getting tired of mentioning it to you.

Broken record, what?

Owen · April 26, 2007

Here's my version...

urbanaries · April 26, 2007

Owen wrote:

Here's my version...

ooooooh, that looks good. do you ever apply the same to neck? looks funny in contrast. but her face looks pristine.

malart · April 26, 2007

Here is my version that I tried

And another

Owen · April 26, 2007

urbanaries wrote:

ooooooh, that looks good. do you ever apply the same to neck? looks funny in contrast. but her face looks pristine.

I almost always do the neck as well, and the arms and legs as necessary.
This example I just did the face.

Owen · April 26, 2007

malart wrote:

Here is my version that I tried

And another

But now EVERYTHING is blurred? Looks... awful.

Mask out the main features.. her nose in less opacity, but her lips, eyes, brows out for sure.

Owen · April 28, 2007

Can you post that one in high res?

gmonkeh · April 28, 2007

Here's the image that was linked above using dodge and burn in pixel level. It's more time consuming than some of the shortcuts but it yields the best results.

I use 3 curves adjustments layers:

For Dodging I brought the midtones up and set the resulting mask to HideAll (black)
For Burning I brought the midtones down and set the resulting mask to HideAll (Black)
The 3rd Curves is just a basic S curve to emphasize the details you want to D&B.

Now you just paint over the mask with a soft edged brush, I prefer to use 100% opacity and 3-5% flow.

Basically you have to get down to pixel level and do your dodging and burning as needed. It takes time when you first do this but once you get used to it, it becomes easier.

Original:

New Version:

Owen's Version:

attachment.php?attachmentid=18861&stc=1&d=1177620455

Owen · April 28, 2007

Your new version looks great.
How long does it take? Mine takes about 5 minutes, max.

gmonkeh · April 28, 2007

Owen wrote:

Your new version looks great.
How long does it take? Mine takes about 5 minutes, max.

At first it was tedious, but I've gotten the hang of it. For this image it was about 10-15 minutes.

Skin retouch, 2nd try......

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